Nano may face competition from Maruti: Murad Ali Baig

Tata Motors has announced the much-awaited launch of Tata Nano on March 23. The cars will be on display at Tata Motors' dealerships from the first week of April and bookings will commence from the second week of April (See: Tata Motors to launch Nano in March)

Speaking on the Nano launch auto expert Murad Ali Baig said the Nano may face competition from Maruti. "We might even get a surprise from Maruti that it would come out with, perhaps, a cheaper model because most of the Japanese companies have what they used to call the Kei-cars or K-cars."

CNBC-TV18 shares with domain-b its exclusice opinion from Baig

We'll get Nanos finally coming in from April. What kind of interest can we expect for this particular car?
Gigantic. It has been so long and so eagerly awaited that I think the enthusiasm will affect everybody everywhere.

What kind of people do you think will be shifting to the Nano? Do you think that you will see most of the two-wheeler guys getting upgraded to the Nano considering now that you may expect perhaps lower interest rates and lower price for petrol?
No, I think there will be a very large market of people who would be moving from second-hand cars to Nano.

A lot of people would buy a Nano as a second car for their households. The premium end of the motorcycle and scooter market would come for the Nano. The motorcycle market is much bigger and I don't think only the tip of the iceberg will come to the scene. But that is a huge market.

Should Maruti be worried considering that there could be competition at the lower end from here or do you think that Tatas' previous experience with Indica and Indigo will not really dent Maruti's market much?
I think it will have some impact on everybody. All the hatchbacks will be affected to some extent.

I think that we can expect that from Maruti, we might even get a surprise from them that they would come out with perhaps a cheaper model because most of the Japanese companies have what they used to call the Kei-cars or K-cars, which are 60cc cars, which are in their stable and still being marketed in Japan. So, I would not be surprised if Maruti also gives competition.